James Bond Franchise Blessed With 'Trainspotting' Director Danny Boyle

The man who gave you '28 Days Later' and '127 Hours' is heading to 007's turf.

Danny Boyle
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Danny Boyle

Every time there’s a lull between James Bond movies, cinephiles run rampant with speculation regarding storylines and directors, creating wishlists and jumping on rumors surrounding the next installment. While there’s been a huge section of double-0 fans eager to see director Christopher Nolan handle the world-renowned spy franchise, it appears those preferring director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting and T2, 28 Days Later) have won out.

According to Metro, the English filmmaker opened up about his involvement in the upcoming 007 project at the premier of his latest FX show, Trust, at New York’s Florence Gould Hall Theater. “We are working on a script right now. And it all depends on that really,” said Boyle. “I am working on a Richard Curtis script at the moment. We hope to start shooting that in six or seven weeks. Then Bond would be right at the end of the year. But we are working on them both right now.”

The Curtis script is with longtime collaborator John Hodge, with whom Boyle has co-written a large chunk of his filmography. He's also on the Bond case. “We’ve got an idea, John Hodge, the screenwriter, and I have got this idea, and John is writing it at the moment,” said Boyle. “And it all depends on how it turns out. It would be foolish of me to give any of it away.”

The fact that Boyle is working alongside a writer who’s been so successful in the past is a pretty promising sign that this will indeed become the much-needed follow-up to 2015’s maligned Spectre. The pairing of Boyle and Bond seems particularly fitting since the director worked with Daniel Craig on a short film for the 2012 London Olympics Closing Ceremony.

Simon Beaufoy, who's writing Trust and won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Slumdog Millionaire, is confident Boyle is a perfect fit for Bond. “I don’t know why he hasn’t done one before. I think it’s meant to be,” said Beaufoy, before remarking on the tribulations Boyle may face in the process. “It might not be so straightforward, because there appears to be two scripts being written at the same time. I’m quite to happy to say that I’m not involved in either.”

Beaufoy also expressed that he's excited to see what Boyle will come up with. While the creative process itself is an arduous, demanding journey to embark on, not to mention how increasingly colossal each Bond project has been, Boyle is an inspired choice. After a slog as dull as Spectre, we’re all eager to see someone like Boyle inject energy, kineticism, and vibrance back into our favorite spy franchise.

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